DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki showed up for practice yesterday — which was a feat in itself. Not nearly as impressive as scoring 10 fourth-quarter points the night before, but still something of a feat.

“I still got a little high temperature, but the fever is basically gone,” said Nowitzki, weakened in Dallas’ Game 4 win over the Heat. “That’s obviously the main concern always.”

Some were really impressed.

“Last night was one of those inspirational gut performances in Maverick history,” said team president Donnie Nelson. “That was our version of Willis Reed . . . I don’t even know how he was standing [up] in that fourth quarter.”

Others were not.

“We’re all banged up. We’re all tired. It’s physically tough to go out and beat each other up,” said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who said he heard how Nowitzki had a high temperature. “I was made aware of it. Last night somebody asked me something about a fever.”

Said Dwyane Wade, “He’s a great player without all the dramatics of the stories that’s been going on.”

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Representatives of the NBA owners and players completed a second day of meetings, scheduled two more for next week, and expressed hope that continued dialogue before the June 30 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement could head off a work stoppage.

According to commissioner David Stern, both sides are “very far apart.”

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There has been a lot of chirping in the series, mainly from the Mavs. Jason Terry proclaimed Portland’s defense was better than Miami’s and also said LeBron James couldn’t keep him down as he had done for the entire series. And yesterday, James was told DeShawn Stevenson said he “checked out” in the fourth quarter Tuesday.

“DeShawn, he’s been talking for a long time, since out Washington-Cleveland days. I don’t let that get to us. Those guys are playing well. We’re playing well. It’s a three-game series. Talk is cheap,” James said.

Stevenson insisted he meant it in terms of James “deferring” to teammates and being passive.

“He’s not getting the same looks. I think he’s trying to find other guys and Dwyane Wade has it going so I think he’s deferring. At the same time, it’s good for us,” Stevenson said sounding like he was picking his words carefully.

“You don’t want to say anything bad. He’s talented enough he can use anything in the paper to boost his ego . . . I don’t think that’s something negative but when you have players like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, you tend to defer.”

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Of the previous 26 times the NBA finals have been tied, the winner of Game 5 has won the series 19 times. Since the 2-3-2 format, the record for Game 5 winners taking the Finals is 6-3. . . . The Heat arrived more than a half hour late for media session because they were watching film. Team would not be fined, NBA spokesperson said.

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Donnie Nelson spoke about how the franchise still hurts from blowing the 2-0 lead to the Heat in the 2006 Finals.

Been here before and five years of bearing a serious cross, it’s hard to put that into words,” Nelson said. “So to be in this position where we were five years ago and have the same opportunity, you can’t script that. That’s why this series is getting the kind of attention that it is. These scars have been with us for five years and there’s only one thing that will take those scars away. Only one.”